Sleep tight
by VampsOnCrack
Summary: John and Jennifer have an agreement that benefits both of them, but can't tell anyone about it. What happens when neither of them can be contacted ? Will be multi-chaptered, hopefully.
1. Chapter 1

A.N: I've really been getting into the Sheppard/Keller ship lately, so I thought this up during a boring Cellular Metabolism lesson. I plan on it being multi-chaptered, and have already written part of the second chapter. Enjoy!

Richard Woolsey was reading through SGA-1's latest mission report, specifically Ronan's rather succinct one, when he was interrupted by Major Lorne knocking on his door.

"Yes Major?" Woolsey asked.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I've been trying to contact Colonel Sheppard for the better part of 10 minutes with no answer. He was supposed to be in the jumper bay to help with the new recruits about a quarter of an hour ago." Lorne answered, looking concerned.

"Have you tried looking for him? Maybe he's just running late and forgot his radio." Woolsey suggested, although doubtful of it himself as Sheppard would never usually take his radio off, being the leading military officer.

"Just about to go do that, sir. I thought I should let you know." Lorne said, leaving to go search for his CO.

A full fruitless search of the city later, Lorne found himself back at Woolsey's office. As he entered, he noticed Marie, one of the nurses of Atlantis, sat in one of the armchairs.

"Anything, Major?" Woolsey inquired from behind his desk.

"Nothing, sir. I looked everywhere and when I got to his quarters the door was locked."

"Hmm, could be an electrical malfunction. Marie's just informed me that Doctor Keller is also not responding. Although she did have to day off today, so that may be why."

"Jennifer never takes it off, even at night she keeps it close by in case of a medical emergency" Marie interjected "I practically had to force her out of the door last night banishing her from the infirmary until tomorrow, but unfortunately one of the other doctors fell and broke their arm this morning, so I was trying to inform her."

"I didn't see her during my sweep of Atlantis." Lorne admitted.

"Well if there are mechanical issues there's a large chance they're both locked in their rooms.3 Woolsey conjectured. He touched his radio to bring it to life. "Doctor McKay?" he called.

"Yeah?" was the answer he received from an annoyed sounding Rodney McKay.

"Have you noted any particular power fluctuations or electrical issues recently? We fear that Colonel Sheppard and Doctor Keller may be trapped in their quarters."

"No I haven't. Have you tried hailing them?" Rodney asked obnoxiously, already making his way to Sheppard's room, which were closer to his lab than Keller's.

"Of course. They're not answering. We think they may also be experiencing malfunctions." Woolsey answered, pretending not to hear the tone of Rodney's voice. It had become common practice among the people of Atlantis to just ignore the way in which the scientist talked, as it was usually condescending or patronizing.

"Well there's no way a power fluctuation could affect both the communicators AND the doors. Look, I'm already at John's door. I'll try to get it open and we'll go from there. McKay out."

Upon reaching the door to John's room, he tried the door normally, just in case Lorne really is that stupid. The door remained shut. Not seeing any physical damage he tried his Chief-of-Science override. The door slid open and as he stepped into the room, he was not prepared for the sight in front of him: His best friend, fast asleep in bed, spooning with the CMO of Atlantis. They were both fully clothed, so no hanky panky had apparently gone on, but there they were lying with John's arms securely around Jennifer.

After a few dazed moments, Rodney knocked himself back to reality and knew he was going to have to wake them up. He made his way to the edge of the bed, leant over and shook his friend's shoulder.

"Whu-" Sheppard mumbled as he roused from his sleep. He took a second to gaze at the woman in his arms before he realised that she was not the one who had woken him. Whipping his head around, his eyes bulged seeing Rodney at his bedside.

"Rise and shine" McKay singsonged, enjoying the look of embarrassment on Sheppard's face. "It seems that you missed your alarm. I don't know about Jennifer but you are -" He checked his watch ostentatiously "-20 minutes late for work."

A mixture of shock and sleepiness left John speechless for a few moments before he just managed to choke out:

"She has the day off."

"Well not anymore. I heard something about a Dr. Somethingorother broke their arm this morning so that's probably why they're looking for her" McKay informed him as he pointed over at the sleeping blonde. "So both of you need to be up and out ASAP."

He made his way to the door, and as John started to call him back, he just answered "Don't worry, I've got your back". He made sure to shut the door behind him.

McKay strode into Woolsey's office, where Woolsey, Lorne and Marie were all stood waiting. They all turned at his arrival and looked at him expectantly.

"There's no problem with the doors, they were just locked from the inside. I used my override code to open them. There is however a problem with some of the communicators, I tried contacting you earlier on my way up here but couldn't get through. I'll start working on it straight away." Rodney lied through his teeth.

"Well why didn't the colonel turn up for training this morning then?" Lorne inquired.

"He overslept! Do you have any idea how much he works, or how much Dr. Keller works too? They get less sleep _combined_ than anyone else on this expedition! He was bound to oversleep eventually. Hell, when I went to check on Jennifer she didn't even wake up when I opened the door!" At least that part was true.

Rodney would have carried on with his rant in his usual manner, but then realised that it would seem too defensive of someone else, which wasn't exactly his MO, so he clamped his mouth shut. He simply added "I woke them up and they'll be straight to work. Now, next time only bother me when there's an _actual_ problem please!"

With that, he left the office with a hidden smirk on his face. Sheppard better give him a good, very complete, explanation.

A.N.2: Feel free to comment and favorite/follow !


	2. Chapter 2

A.N: Just realised I've made this a bit AU, as Rodney isn't acting like he's dating Jennifer, or had dated her. I might keep it that way, or make a reference to the fact that they dated, I'm not sure yet. Oh well. Enjoy !

Also, I know it isn't exactly romance yet, but fear not, it will be.

After a full day of work, including overtime to compensate for the half an hour missed by each of them, it wasn't until 10:30pm that Colonel Sheppard and Doctor Keller found each other in the mess hall, as they gathered up something to eat before hitting the sack. They chatted as they walked over to a their usual table, the one that Jennifer often shared with the expedition's flagship team, placed their trays down and settled into their chairs. Unfortunately, they only got a few minutes of silent, peaceful eating before they were interrupted by the scraping of the chair next to John. Rodney sat down silently, and sat there saying and eating nothing, a first for him. Although not much had changed by Rodney sitting down, the entire atmosphere surrounding the table changed: Jennifer's cheeks turned a delightful shade of pink, and the silence went from peaceful to full of tension. The awkwardness of the situation eventually forced both John's and Jennifer's eyes to him.

"Did you want something Rodney?" Sheppard asked in a voice that made his enemies and the newbies of Atlantis shrink away in fear. To John's dismay, Rodney did nothing but stare at him. He'd been on the receiving end of Sheppard's glares far too often to be intimidated by them anymore.

"An explanation would be nice" Rodney said, finally picking up one of the sandwiches on his plate and taking a bite.

"Well you're not getting one!" Sheppard exclaimed.

"Well I suppose you'd prefer I just asked around to see if anyone else can explain then? I'll ask Ronan, maybe he'll know" He stood up and picked up his tray, about to leave.

"Rodney, no!" Jennifer shouted slightly too loudly, making the few people still in the cafeteria to turn their heads. Rodney sat back down, and their spectators went back to their meals. They were used to SGA-1's antics by now, and didn't pay them much mind.

"Well then I want someone to explain what the hell is going on between you two? I lied to Woolsey this morning so I deserve some information about what I'm lying about." Rodney declared. John looked at Jennifer and rolled his eyes; there was no getting out of this one.

"There's not really much to explain. Most nights, Jenn and I… sleep together. That's it." John finally admitted.

"So this isn't even a relationship, it's just sex?" McKay asked, slightly horrified. He might have thought that that was something Sheppard would do, but Jennifer not so much. There was a reason he had nicknamed him Kirk, after all.

Jennifer looked at him, mouth agape.

"Who said anything about sex?" she squeaked.

"Or a relationship?" John added.

McKay stared at them confused. "You just said you were sleeping together!"

"Yes, _sleeping_! And keep your voice down will you?" John hissed, looking around and noticing a young marine gazing over at them. He stared him down until the marine gave up and turned away. John turned back to Rodney and Jennifer, both of whom were waiting for him before resuming the conversation.

"So no sex?" He summarized.

"No sex."

"Just sleeping?"

"Just sleeping."

"Why?"

Jennifer took over, and said "We just found that we both sleep better if there's someone else in the bed with us."

"Well that was more than just "in the bed"" He put up his fingers to make quotation marks. "You two were… were… spooning!"

"That wasn't intentional, I must have rolled over during the night" John admitted, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.

"How long has this thing been going on?" Rodney inquired, desperate to know more about this sudden revelation about two of his closest friends.

"Just a few months"

" _A FEW MONTHS?!_ " He full on shouted, which earned him a hand clamping onto his mouth to shut him up. He took a few seconds to calm down and process this new information before signaling to Sheppard that his hand was no longer needed. John slowly brought his hand back, unsure as to whether Rodney would suddenly burst out shouting again.

"How has it been going on this long without anyone noticing?" he all but whispered.

"It's not exactly hard" Jennifer shrugged. "Neither of us get to bed until late anyway, when there's only the skeleton staff around. No one notices us walking into the other's room. Plus we both get up and leave fairly early as well so no one sees us in the morning either."

Rodney leaned back into his chair. "I can't believe this has been happening for months right under my nose, and I didn't even know it!"

"I don't know what all the fuss is about, Rodney. It's no difference than when Ronan and Teyla share a tent during missions." John argued.

"Well I don't think there's much cuddling going on between Ronan and Teyla" Rodney grumbled back, making Jennifer blush again and Sheppard shuffle in his seat. After a few seconds of nervous silence, Keller felt she had to break it.

"You're not going to… tell anyone, are you?" She tentatively asked.

Rodney looked incredulous at such a question. "What?! Of course not! Who do you think I am! You obviously didn't want anyone to know, which isn't surprising considering how fast the rumor mill works around here. Do you really think I would do that? "

The question caused John and Jennifer to exchange looks, which Rodney didn't take very kindly to.

"Well thanks!" He ejaculated. Sheppard just shrugged a shoulder at him and shoved a fork of whatever was left on his plate into his mouth. That marked the end of the conversation as far as he was concerned, and the three of them finished their meals quietly.

Fifteen minutes later, they were all full. As they got up and picked up their trays, McKay pulled slightly on John's sleeve, making him fall into step beside him and letting Jennifer walk in front of them. They allowed a few seconds for her to put her rubbish away before they started talking.

"So seriously, no sort of … deeper feelings swimming around there?" McKay pressed as he placed his tray onto the pile of dirty dishes.

"McKay!" Sheppard warned, as he added his tray on top of Rodney's.

"Just checking!"

"Well thanks for looking out for us, but we are both fine, I can promise you that." John reassured. They walked through the threshold of the door, where Keller was waiting for them.

"Well I'm going to bed. Night you two. Sleep tight" McKay quipped, eager to start taunting them about their agreement. Hey, just because he couldn't tell anyone doesn't mean he couldn't try to slide a few jabs in here and there. John turned his head over his shoulder and threw back "Goodnight… Meredith". McKay's smile fell as the words hit his ear. He would never get the upper hand over Sheppard.

"So," John said as the pair strolled around the corner, as he lifted his arm and settled it across Jennifer's shoulders and turned his head to smile at her with his ever-so-charming smirk "Your place or mine?"


	3. Chapter 3

A.N: This chapter came surprisingly quickly, as it was partly meant to be chapter 2 before I decided to completely rewrite it. I'll try and get a minimum of a chapter a week out, but I'm afraid I can't make any promises.

Extra update: I'm writing another John/Jennifer fic called To The Future, check it out!

Enjoy!

As Jennifer lay in bed that night, she was surprised to find that sleep eluded her. Since she'd started sharing his bed with Atlantis's favorite colonel, this had been a rare occurrence. Unfortunately, the conversation from earlier that evening with Rodney had got her mind all in a twist. Did she have feelings for John? Was that why she'd let this carry on for as long as it had? She dared a glance at the man, who had his back to her, sound asleep. He seemed to be more shocked when McKay implied that they had a relationship than when he'd thought they were just having sex. She knew he was not-so-fondly called Kirk by the scientist everyone hated to love, but she'd never believed that there was any truth behind the rumors she'd heard.

Movement of the mattress caused Jennifer to hold her breath involuntarily, as if she'd woken up John by her thoughts alone. Fortunately, all he did was turn over in his sleep, and he surprised her when his arm gently landed on her waist. That explains why we always seem to wake up cuddling, Jennifer thought.

John himself didn't seem to have any problem carrying on with their arrangement, even now that McKay knew, so perhaps there was something between them? She shook the thought away, knowing she was being ridiculous. Still, she couldn't help herself from thinking about their agreement came to be. Neither of them was absolutely sure how it started although they both had their opinions, their version of the story which caused for disruptive pillow talk as they argued playfully over whose fault it was. They both claimed it was the other's fault if they spent their nights together which according to Jennifer, started when Sheppard got himself into a bit of a pickle…

 _A few months earlier …_

 _SGA-1 had just gotten back from a badly-ended mission to MX3-P7J, also known as Toumay. The negotiations between the two civilizations took a turn for the worse after a "confrontation of cultural differences", according to Sheppard. After pushing for information, Keller found out that John had sneezed at the table during their evening meal, a side effect of his recovering cold, and the toumaiens took great offence to it. Such offence, in fact, that it had resulted with the team coming in hot through the Gate, with Ronan supporting most of Sheppard's weight, who had been stabbed in the side._

" _Well" started Keller, approaching Sheppard's bed in the infirmary a few hours later, holding a chart. "There doesn't seem to be any internal damage so all we have to do is stich you up."_

" _Great!" Exclaimed Rodney, standing up from his seat beside John. "So you're not going to die and I can go eat, I didn't get any dinner and I'm starving."_

" _Well, actuall-" Dr. Keller started but McKay had already left._

" _What is it, doc?" Sheppard asked._

" _Well, I was going to let you go back to your quarters, and up your morphine dose a little so you could get a good night sleep even with the pain, but there's no way you'll make it your room alone."_

" _Ah, come on doc, the pain's not that ba-" Sheppard stopped short as he attempted to get up and pain shot through his body, making him lie back down, wincing as he went._

" _That's that decided then." Jennifer affirmed. "You're spending the night here."_

" _I don't want to have to sleep in the infirmary, doc. I'm sure I'll make it back to my room on my own."_

 _Jennifer could see that John wasn't going to back down, so she attempted a compromise._

" _How about this: I'm not working the night shift tonight, so I finish in about two hours. You stay here and rest until then, and then I will help you get back to your room."_

" _Couldn't ask you to do that, you need to grab all the free time you can get, not spend it looking after an invalid like myself" John argued._

" _Well tough, it's this or staying at the infirmary all night" She taunted, knowing she'd won the battle. John glared at her, and shuffled down into his bed, crossing his arms and blowing air out through of his nose._

" _Great!" She chirped, beaming at his dark face. "I'll pick you up as I leave." As she turned around and started to walk off, she heard him shout "It's a date!"_

 _She smiled to herself, blushing at the eyes that were now on her._

 _2 hours later, almost to the minute, Jennifer pulled open the curtain separating Col. Sheppard from the rest of the infirmary. The colonel was lying there; head tilted back, mouth slightly open, dozing peacefully. A copy of Catcher in the Rye, which Jennifer knew to be Dr. Cole's, rested open against his chest. Jennifer couldn't help but stand there and stare for a few moments, a sweet smile on her face. He is really cute, she thought, at least when he's not awake. She chuckled to herself before stepping over to the bedside, taking the book off his chest and placed it on the wheelie table and put her hand on a sleeping John's shoulder. A quick squeeze of his shoulder was enough to rouse him. Military training had meant that he was always somewhat alert, even whilst asleep. He slowly opened his eyes and turned his head to the doctor._

" _I almost just left you here to sleep, you looked peaceful." Keller told him, as she pushed the curtain back even further. "But I figured you'd give me a hard time tomorrow if I did."_

" _Well you're right about that, doc." Sheppard muttered, pushing himself to sit upright on the bed. He slowly swung his legs over the edge to touch the floor, and extended his arm out to the doctor._

" _Shall we?" He said smiling._

" _We shall. I topped up your morphine dose a few minutes ago so you'll sleep fine tonight." Jennifer wound her arm around John's waist, without trying to put too much pressure on the wound that got him a return ticket to the infirmary in the first place. She lifted him up and together they made their way slowly out of the infirmary, Keller throwing a goodbye to the on-call doctor as they crossed the threshold._

 _It took them a full 15 minutes of struggle and rests for the pair to hobble to Sheppard's quarters. By the time they reached his door, the drugs that Keller had given him had fully kicked in and she was having to support most of his weight in order for them to move forward._

" _Come on John, just a little further" She muttered, mostly to herself, as she hiked his body further up as it was starting to slump forward and waved her hand in front of the lock, making the door slide open. She somehow managed to half-carry half-drag the barely conscious colonel to his bed and set him down as gently as she could. She led his head back to lie on the pillow, and she took his shoes off for him, knowing how uncomfortable it was to wake up with military issued boots on. She moved his legs onto the bed properly with motherly care, and covered him with his duvet._

" _Sleep tight, John" She whispered and lifted herself up off her haunches and attempted to leave and go to her own bed, only to find herself stopped as she felt something pull on her arm. She looked back to find John with his hand secured around her wrist. She tried to pry his fingers away when she heard some sort of noise come out of his mouth. It sounded something like a "No…"_

" _What is it, John?" She asked, not actually expecting an answer. He was so tired and drugged up that she wasn't sure he could physically speak at the moment._

" _Stay…" He mumbled out and pulled slightly on her arm. It probably wasn't nearly as strong as he could pull if he was awake, but it was still strong enough to make Jennifer stumble towards the bed and narrowly miss falling on him. She tried again to get up and leave, but the more she struggled the tighter his hand became. Eventually she gave in and shoved him over delicately, so that she could make herself comfortable. It wasn't long before she was sleeping peacefully, more peacefully than she had in a long time, with the colonel's hand still securely around her wrist._

Jennifer sighed happily thinking of the memory, and slowly drifted off to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

A.N: Wow this is longer than all the other chapters, I'm proud of myself! Here's the next chapter, this one a bit more from John's point of view. Enjoy!

John was also lying awake in bed, his back to Jennifer. It was later than usual, but for some reason he couldn't get his mind to be quiet, no matter how much he tried. The discussion with McKay from that evening repeated in his mind, as if on a loop. Rodney seemed to know how he felt about Jennifer without him having to say a word, which scared him. Was it really that obvious that he was so in love with Jennifer Keller, CMO of the Atlantis infirmary and all around great person? He'd tried his best not to show it, although she made it hard for him not to kiss her when she smiled at him with that sweet smile of hers as they lay in bed at night, talking about anything and everything. He could listen to her talk all day. Hell, she could be telling him about her patient's grimy infections and he'd still be entranced.

Hesitantly, he turned around, eyes closed and his breathing even. He didn't want Jennifer to know he was really awake. He made his arm fall perfectly onto her waist, seemingly unconsciously. He'd been doing this more and more often as the days went by, as he found he slept even better. Plus it gave him an excuse to be even closer to the woman than before.

Ever since their "arrangement" had started, he'd hesitated on telling her how he felt so many times. He didn't want to risk her friendship, which he valued immensely. Besides he was sure she didn't feel the same way, so he would take what he could get, which in this case was more than he ever bargained for. Watching her sleep was so calming. He did it every now and again when he couldn't sleep.

According to John, their arrangement came to life after a particularly difficult night after a mission, a week after his stabbing…

 _7 weeks ago …_

 _Sheppard was just finishing up his mission report for M5J-63F. It was referred to amongst the scientists as well as the marines as Planet of the birds, due to the indigenous people looking bizarrely like crows or maybe ravens, he couldn't decide which. It had been a busy week for the expedition, with multiple teams off world at once. While his team had been surrounded by the corvid people as he's so aptly named them, Lorne's team was accompanying Dr. Keller and a few nurses to M6R-T75 to help the surrounding villages with what appeared to be the chicken pox. Unfortunately it went awry and they ended up having a little face-to-face run in with the Wraith. No casualties, but a few scrapes and bruises. Enough to get them all sent to the infirmary upon arrival back to Atlantis._

 _Sheppard sighed as he typed up the last few sentences of his Air Force mandated mission report. He hated those things. Sure they could be entertaining to read, especially the SG-1 files, but they weren't nearly as fun to write. He slugged his way through the conclusion and snapped the screen down on the laptop. Standing up, he stretched both his arms up and over his head, his shoulders popping. He walked out the door and was about to make a right, to go to his quarters for a well-deserved rest, but halted mid step. He had meant to go check on Lorne's team before turning in for the night, not expecting his report to take as long as it did. He grumbled something about his conscience before doing a 180 on his heel and striding towards the direction of the infirmary._

 _He walked through the doors of the medical bay of Atlantis, looking around for his second in command or the doctor. Not seeing either of them anywhere, he felt very confused. It wasn't until he head his name called from across the room that he noticed Sergeant Lance, Major Lorne's teammate._

" _Hey sergeant" Sheppard started "Where's the doc and the Major?"_

" _They both got released a few hours ago" Lance explained "Although I think Dr. Keller got special treatment" He grumbled. Sheppard could tell he obviously wasn't happy with having to spend the night in the infirmary, which John could understand perfectly: the lights were always on, the beds were uncomfortable and there was always someone walking round, talking and sometimes waking you up to make sure you were still alive. However, he wouldn't allow anyone to bad mouth the doctor, as she happened to be one of his favorite people._

" _Hey" Sheppard countered "I'm sure if she was discharged she was put through exactly the same tests as the rest of you. Nothing worse than a sick doctor."_

" _Right sir, of course" the sergeant responded, obviously not believing a word of it. Sheppard was starting to get annoyed at Lance, but ignored his tone._

" _So other than having to spend the night here are you all okay? No serious worries?" He inquired._

" _No sir, we're all okay. Thanks for checking in though"_

" _Rest well sergeant, don't want you to have to spend another night here" John quipped, to relive some of the annoyance he felt._

 _Meanwhile, Jennifer was tucked up in bed dreaming. Except her dreams weren't of Candy Mountains or romantic escapades, or even of impending workloads. Her dreams were not dreams at all if fact, but nightmares. Visions of the Wraith, their feeding hands pressed against her chest, their eyes glinting with hunger and delight, their mouths stretched into vicious grins, showing the pleasure they took in her terror as they surrounded her. He tossed and turned in her sleep, her hands gripping the sheets._

 _As the group of Wraith jeer at her whimpering, she turned her head to see all of Lorne's team on their knees, slowly ageing before her, attached at the torso to a Wraith of their own. They reach out with their frail wrinkly arms, begging for release from their personal Hells. She tried with all her might to save them, to help them in any way she could, but she found she couldn't move a muscle. As they fell one by one to the floor, she heard the grating, distorted voice of a Wraith queen in her ear._

" _It's all your fault, Jennifer" the voice taunted "you couldn't help them, you never can. You lead them into danger. You're a liability. It's your fault they're dead."_

" _NO!" she screamed, waking herself up in the process. She shot up into a sitting position, her body trembling and her hair plastered to her face with sweat. She took a second to try and regulate her breathing and to reassure herself that it was in fact just a dream. After searching her room with her eyes, double checking for the potential presence of Wraith in her bedroom, she shook herself. She knew she wouldn't be able to stay in her room for the rest of the night and made her way to the door, planning to go sleep in an infirmary bed. She grabbed her pillow and a blanket from the foot of the bed on her way out. She was so frazzled she walked quite literally into a very surprised Colonel Sheppard._

" _Hey doc, what are you doing up? I just went to the infirmary to check on you and the team and Lance said you'd left hours ago." Sheppard asked. He looked downwards and noticed the objects in her hands. "Going camping?" He said, sarcasm leeching into his voice. Jennifer knew that she couldn't to him. Her looks and demeanor would give her away, so she simply answered:_

" _Bad night"_

" _Wraith, spiders or clowns?" He guessed._

" _Wraith" She sighed, still breathing a little heavily. John nodded in understanding. They'd all experienced those sorts of nightmares. They were the worst kind because they hit so close to home._

 _Seeing Keller's distress, John took her by the arm and turned her towards the mess hall._

" _Come on" he commanded "we'll go get some decaf coffee and you can tell me all about the funniest injuries you've had to treat"_

 _Half an hour later found John and Jennifer alone in the mess hall, laughing over a particularly hideous and hilarious sex-related injury Keller had dealt with a few months before. She refused to tell him who it was no matter how much he begged, citing patient-doctor confidentiality. John let out a few last chuckles and checked his watch._

" _Argh, it's late. We need to go to bed if we want to be somewhat useful tomorrow." He announced. The thought of going back to her tainted room and spending the rest of the night in fear made her tense up. Sheppard couldn't help but notice._

" _What's up doc?" he asked, making her giggle at the reference._

" _Let's just say that I'm not exactly expecting a peaceful night anymore" she admitted._

 _He pondered over her words for a few moments, before standing up and grabbing her hand. He led her out of the mess hall and down the corridor towards her quarters. Upon their arrival, he gestured for her to sit on her bed as he took up the blanket she'd previously abandoned. He sat in an armchair the doctor had in the corner of the room and lay the blanket over himself._

" _I'll sleep here tonight to help you sleep" he explained, looking at her confused face. Confusion then turned to protest._

" _I can't let you do that, John. I'm a big girl, I'll survive one night on my own." She exclaimed._

" _I know you can, but now you don't have to" he rebutted, leaning back and putting his hands behind his head. He quickly closed his eyes and Jennifer knew she'd already lost the argument. She huffed and lay down on the mattress._

 _As much as John started with good intentions, he had to admit, he wasn't happy. Mainly because the armchair wasn't nearly as comfortable as it looked. Within ten minutes he was shuffling and reshuffling in the seat, trying to find a position that didn't hurt any part of his body. He thought he'd found a position that wasn't too bad, when he heard a loud sigh coming from the bed._

" _For god's sake, Sheppard! If you're going to insist on staying in here at least use the bed."_

" _I'm not going to take your bed from you, doc. That sort of defeats the point of me being here." He protested._

" _I never said anything about you_ **taking** _it from me" She answered. The comment meant Sheppard open one eye to stare at her._

" _Not like that!" Jennifer exclaimed "I just meant that you could share the bed, it's no different than sharing a tent on missions. Besides, it's not like we haven't already shared a bed."_

" _Hey, I apologized for that! I wasn't exactly aware of what I was doing!" He argued. Jennifer just smirked at him, loving the fact that she could make him blush at the mere mention of what happened between them a week before. The next morning they'd awkwardly woken up and gone on with their days as if nothing had happened. John had apologized that evening, but Jennifer had brushed it off, saying that it wasn't an issue and that she'd found it cute. He hadn't looked her in the eyes for three days after that._

 _John wanted to turn down the offer of sharing a bed, but after a few seconds of hesitation his back convinced him to accept. Begrudgingly, he pulled himself up from the armchair and shuffled over to the bed, where Jennifer pulled back the covers inviting him in. He lay down and immediately felt his back thank him._

 _He lay there for a good few minutes before glancing over to Keller, who was already deep in sleep, exhausted from her previous nightmare._

" _Sleep tight, Jen" He whispered, his eyes tracing over her face "I'll keep the nightmares away for you."_

The thoughts of the first night he was able to feel her next to him made John tighten his hold on Jennifer, and carried him off into a happy sleep, with dreams filled with a certain blond haired doctor.


	5. Chapter 5

A.N: I skipped a Biotechnology lesson for this, so you'd better enjoy this!

The pair woke up the next day, both of them feeling refreshed, as they always did whenever they slept together. Jennifer woke first, but she stayed in bed, content with the feeling of security that came with the arm of a certain colonel laid across her stomach, and his chest pressed against her side. She smiled to herself and closed her eyes again wishing she could stay there forever. She was definitely in deep with John. She felt his breathing change and stilled herself, pretending to be asleep. She felt him move a little as he stirred, and could've sworn she felt a pair of lips lightly press on her shoulder. She could tell from the way the bed dipped and from the lack of warmth that he'd turned over, probably to check the time. She heard him grunt, and almost jumped when she felt his hand on her arm, gently shaking her.

"Come on Jen" He said "We're going to be late again if we're not careful"

She turned over and looked over at him, and was greeted by the sight of Atlantis' very own Colonel Sheppard taking off the shirt he slept in, revealing his very naked, muscled back. He walked towards the bathroom but turned before he closed the door, catching her unawares. He grinned at her and said:

"Seriously though, you've got about fifteen minutes before we get a repeat of yesterday morning" She blushed at the memory, and moved to leave the comfort of the bed. She shrugged on the jacket she'd left on floor last night as she heard the shower turn on. She opened the door to John's room, checking there was no one outside before speed walking down to her own room.

Sheppard couldn't focus on the paperwork in front of him. He didn't like doing paperwork on any given day, but that morning it was twice as hard as usual. He just couldn't help but let his mind wander onto thoughts of the blonde beauty that had stolen his heart as well as the right side of his bed. It didn't help that he was reading through mission reports to give his seal of approval, and he'd stumbled on one involving Jennifer. Every time her name came up he pictured her sleeping form in his mind.

A knock at his door made him jump. It was McKay.

"What is it, Rodney? I'm kind of busy here" He complained, gesturing to the piles of paper overloading his desk.

"Oh yeah" rebutted McKay "You look really busy with your eyes staring at the ceiling". Sheppard turned his head away, shuffling in his seat.

"So what were you thinking about so hard?" He asked "It's Jennifer, isn't it?"

"What are you talking about, McKay?" John muttered, not sure he actually wanted to know.

"I'm just saying, now I know about –you know– I understand a few things a bit better. Like how you've been drifting off more if someone's not talking directly to you. And how when that happens you've got this weird look on your face almost like you're… happy" Rodney looked confused, like he wasn't sure if that was the right word to use.

"And you're saying that Keller is the reason I'm 'happy'?" Sheppard surmised.

"Obviously!" McKay obnoxiously retorted. "Look, there's no point denying you have feelings for her, and she has feelings for you so you may as well just go for it"

"And you would know this for certain would you?" John couldn't help but be hopeful at Rodney's words.

"Well it's not like I'm her confidant or anything but it's pretty obvious to everyone except the two of you. So go do a Kirk and sweep her off her feet in the middle of the cafeteria or something else so clichéd it'll make me want to puke."

"How very romantic of you, Rodney" John tried to act nonchalant and attempted to brush Rodney off, the latter not knowing how close he'd gotten to the dream John had had the night before. "Now would you please let me get on with my work instead of distracting me with mental pictures of you puking all over the cafeteria floor? I'd really appreciate it."

"There was actually a reason that I came to see you. Woolsey wants to see all of the heads of departments for something. An update on something or other. I forget what. It's at 4 o'clock." He grinned at John's annoyed face, and stood up from his chair. Sheppard hadn't even noticed him sit down. McKay stopped in the doorway and turned back to John

"Seriously, just tell her. What's the worst that could happen?" He said. He tapped the doorframe unconsciously and left, leaving John with a lot to contemplate.

The infirmary was suspiciously empty. Usually there were at least a handful of people in beds at any one time, but this day there was hardly anyone. Jennifer was busying herself with a man who'd come in with a nasty looking cut on his hand. It wasn't as bad as it looked, and Jennifer had just finished stitching him up when McKay walked through the door. Keller looked up to see who it was, and once she saw it was Rodney she sighed and turned back to the job at hand.

"Sit down Rodney; I'll be right with you." She ordered. McKay was in the infirmary so often he practically had his own bed, but this time he stayed standing.

"Actually I came to talk to you" McKay answered.

"Okay, go wait over there; I'll come find you when I'm done" Jennifer directed, pointing to a chair next to her desk. Rodney sighed in exasperation but followed her finger to settle into the chair she chose. She finished up tying the man's hand together in expert motions and sent him on his way before walking over to the scientist.

"What brings you here then Rodney?" Keller asked jovially as she pulled the latex gloves off her hands.

"What the hell are you doing?" He accused bluntly.

"Um, excuse me?" She asked, shocked.

"This thing you've got going with Sheppard" Jennifer looked down uncomfortably and shuffled from one foot to the other. Rodney ignored her and carried on. "Do you not see what you are doing to him? It's obvious that he has feelings for you, and it seems that you have some for him so just tell him how you feel because he is getting to be insufferable to work with, even if he is better rested. If I'm wrong, which I very rarely am, and you don't have feelings for him then stop the whole agreement right now because you'll only be letting him suffer longer."

The doctor stared at him, flabbergasted at the spiel that had left his mouth. She hadn't realised that anyone knew about her recently developed feeling for a certain tall dark haired colonel, but there was no escaping Rodney's scrutinizing gaze.

"I- um-" She stuttered, unable to form words, let alone a coherent sentence.

"Good" Rodney interrupted; his voice more chipper than usual. "So you tell him, he'll stare at you dumbfounded for a few seconds before realizing what you've actually said, and then you'll both live happily ever after." He turned to leave. "But not right now" he added "Because there's a meeting for all the heads of departments at 4. Don't forget!" He left, leaving a still speechless Jennifer in his wake.

Rodney walked down the corridor back to his lab, smirking to himself. He didn't usually get involved in other people's lives, mainly because they were too boring and insignificant when compared with his own, but for two of his closest friends who were ignoring what was right in front of them, he'd made an exception. He couldn't wait until 4 o'clock; the meeting was going to be far more entertaining than usual.


	6. Chapter 6

A.N: bad times ahead for our couple, beware! But enjoy anyway!

Four o'clock came faster than both John and Jennifer anticipated. They were both so absorbed in their thoughts that they didn't see the time pass.

Jennifer barely arrived on time. She jogged through the door apologizing profusely, to which Woolsey replied "Don't worry about it Dr. Keller, Colonel Sheppard isn't here either, so we haven't started yet" She ducked her head to hide the blush she knew was surely blossoming on her cheeks at the mention of the colonel, and quietly found her seat. There were only two available, which happened to be at either end of the half circle the tables made, right across from each other. Sitting herself down, she realised that every time she looked up, there was no way of avoiding the chair in front of her. She turned to glare at Rodney, sure that he must have had something to do with it. He just smiled at her knowingly, making her even more frustrated.

Sheppard skidded into the conference room at that moment, obviously out of breath.

"Sorry everybody, I got a little distracted and didn't realize the time. What did I miss?" He asked nonchalantly, looking all around the room except the zone where Jennifer sat.

"We were waiting on you to start, Colonel. Please sit." Woolsey said diplomatically. Sheppard sat and was forced to look at the doctor.

"Well" Woolsey started "Now that we're all present let's begin."

That was all Jennifer heard, because after that her attention was on the man in front of her. He seemed to be listening intently to whatever Woolsey was saying. His hair was even more messy than usual from the running, and she smiled internally. She loved his unruly hair, as well as his dark eyes that were currently following the conversation as it jumped from person to person. She could lose herself in those eyes. In fact, she had on more than one occasion whilst in the middle of a conversation with the man himself when they lay in bed at night, which caused for some embarrassing situations when she was called back to reality. His mouth moved sensually a he answered a question someone asked him, and Jennifer found herself fixating on it. The mouth she wanted, in so many ways. She wanted to taste it, and be tasted by it. She wanted to feel his on her lips, her neck, her shoulder, every inch of her body. She knew she must be becoming a deep shade of red, and ducked her head down in an attempt to conceal it. She then noticed that she was being talked to:

"…Keller, what about you?"

"Um, what?" She asked "Sorry, my mind drifted"

"I said, is there any supplies in dire need for the infirmary? Prometheus isn't scheduled to arrive before next month, so the SGC is sending a sort of care package with anything we desperately need until then".

Jennifer forced herself to think straight for a few moments and jumped into the list of things she considered essential to the infirmary.

John had tried as hard as he could to listen to the meeting, but found the only way he could do that was to completely ignore the woman seated in front of him. As long as he didn't look at her, he could adequately concentrate on the conversation going on. The only problem was that being right across from her meant that he couldn't help but look her, and whenever he did that he completely lost the train of the conversation. He was entranced by her hair, the strands that had loosened for her ponytail and that fell gently on each side of her face, framing it nicely. He was so completely in love with this woman; he could hardly believe it himself. He was using all of his energy to look anywhere but her, but a slip of his eyes meant that he got a full view of her red cheeks, and he couldn't help but smirk. What was she thinking of that would make her blush like that? It sure as hell wasn't the meeting, as it was exceedingly boring. He hoped it was about him, but he wasn't so arrogant as to assume. He wished that he could just pluck up the courage to tell her everything, but anytime he decided to when they lay in bed at night, his throat clammed up and wouldn't let the words out. Instead he just pulled her closer and hoped his actions would say what couldn't be said out loud. He could feel his own cheeks heat up at the thoughts running through his mind as well as another body part, and tried to conceal them by changing position and leaning his head on his hand, covering his cheek and shuffling his chair closer to the table. He felt like a pubescent teenager. He had to get out of there fast.

Rodney watched the pair's interactions throughout the meeting. Although he didn't have any problems concentrating, he found it immensely amusing to watch them watch each other, staring but avoiding each other's gaze. Jennifer was more obvious, outwardly looking at the colonel indiscreetly, whilst John was more subtle, throwing seemingly casual glances at her from time to time.

McKay knew that they needed a bit of push, and it seemed to be doing the trick. He'd never seen either of them as uncomfortable as they were.

As Woolsey called upon Jennifer and she flailed about in shock, Rodney had to try his hardest not to laugh out loud. It was just too funny. It took her a few seconds to pick herself up, but no one except himself would realize anything unusual. A lull in the conversation caused Rodney to pipe up.

"If we've said all that needed to be said, let's finish up here" Rodney declared "I've got some work to do before dinner and besides, I think we're all feeling a bit… tired". Neither Jennifer nor John missed the quick looks he sent their ways as he finished his sentence. They both shot daggers at him with their eyes, and still he did nothing but smile innocently. Woolsey agreed with him and everyone stood up, ready to leave the room. Sheppard was up before any of them, shooting out of the room so fast he was nothing but a blur. Jennifer tried not to jump to conclusions and presume it was because of her, but she'd caught his eye more than once during the meeting, so she knew he knew she'd been staring. Felling slightly offended, she gathered up her pen and her notebook, emptier than it should have been, and sheepishly left. She could tell that tonight was going to be a lonely one. Slowly people filtered out of the room, leaving Rodney alone. He frowned; things were not going as he had planned.

Everyone went about their days as normal, and soon dinnertime came around. Jennifer was running slightly later than usual, there having been an incident involving an ancient device that got accidentally activated and managed to burn a perfect circle into one of the scientist's hands. She speed walked into the cafeteria, grabbed some food and walked over to her favorite table: the one with SGA-1. The only available spot was next to Sheppard but she didn't hesitate in sitting down, hoping for some sort of normality. Her hopes were dashed however when John stood up near immediately, mumbling something about finishing up some paperwork. The group watched him leave, and Ronan grunted: "What's up with him?"

Jennifer shrugged, although she had an idea. It was her, it had to be. She'd shown too much of herself, figuratively speaking, and she'd scared him away. She looked across the table and caught Rodney's worried face and raised her eyebrows in apathetic agreement. She ate little of her meal, having suddenly found that she'd lost her appetite. After sliding the remaining food around on her plate she excused herself quietly and left the table. She shoved her rubbish in the bin and shuffled along the corridor down to her bedroom to face a sleepless, uncomfortable night.


	7. Chapter 7

A.N: _SQUEE!_ warning ahead. That is all. Enjoy!

P.S: There probably won't be many chapters left, maybe only one or two.

Jennifer didn't get to sleep until well into the early hours of the morning, after many hours of tossing and turning in her bed, finding it too big and too empty for her liking. Unfortunately, she knew that going to John was not an option. She had to cut off their nighttime ritual before it became torture. She would slowly go crazy if he kept getting close to him that way. One day she would slip up and say or do something stupid, and she would lose his as a friend forever. It was obvious that he didn't want her. She was hurt and upset, but couldn't really blame him. He had never said anything that could be construed as anything other than friendly. She had built a whole relationship between her and him in her head and now it had been demolished and she had to deal with it. The thought of them staying at least friends is what finally drifted her off to sleep.

She had only slept for a grand total of twenty minutes before being awoken by the sound of her door opening. She jumped up, ready to react to whatever the intruder may do. She prepared herself for a fight, fists up and feet apart. What she met however, was the surprised face of Colonel John Sheppard.

"Whoa there, it's just me" he assured, holding his hands up in surrender. He waited for her to lower her hands before continuing.

"So where'd you go to? I was expecting you. I thought maybe you'd gone back to work and would need dragging away. You get fed up of me or something?" He joked, chuckling slightly. Jennifer saw red. He had been the one avoiding her all day and he was wondering why she hadn't turned up?! She could practically feel the steam coming out of her ears in anger. She had already been somewhat annoyed with him, him assuming everything was fine made things worse, plus she always tended to be angry at whoever had woken her up before she wanted to; she exploded in a fit of rage.

"Excuse me?! You have been completely avoiding me all day, whenever I'm in a room you leave as soon as possible as if I have a contagious disease or something, and you expect me to turn up in your bed at the end of the night like some sort of desperate hooker who clings onto any sort of affection she can get? How dare you!"

"Hey, I didn't say anything like that!" Sheppard exclaimed.

"No, you haven't said anything at all! That's the problem!" She shouted, before taking a deep breath to calm herself. She never had outbursts like this, and it took a toll on her.

"I don't think we can carry on with this… thing we have going on. It's not good for either of us" She refused to look at him as she said it, fixating on a random spot on the floor. John looked at her in shock. He knew that he'd acted like a bit of a jerk, but he hadn't expected her to come out with that. This would not do, he thought.

"I'm sorry, okay. I've just had a lot on my mind, and I've acted badly towards you and I'm sorry for that. But that doesn't mean that we should stop. I love spending my nights with you" He admitted.

"Really?" She ranted "because that's not what it seems like when you ignore me all day!"

"I didn't mean to" He defended. She snorted in derision, so he carried on. "Look, I really am sorry for offending you. I don't want to stop what we have going on"

"Well it's not just your decision, is it?" She still looked anywhere but his face, for she knew she'd break down if she did. "We shouldn't have carried on as long as we have anyway. It's going to get complicated, feelings will get in the way, it'll just ruin everything and I'd rather not go down that path. Surely it's better that we cut this off now before it gets on top of us."

She finally breathed after her little speech, happy to have got through it without stuttering, stopping, or simply breaking down, but John only heard one part of it. He only heard one word of it, in fact.

"Feelings?" He breathed out, and the husk and serious tone of his voice made her look up finally. She scanned his face trying to read the multitude of emotions washed upon it: sadness, hurt, and… hope? She must be imagining things. Her mind had to be twisting things so that she sees what she wants to see. She decided that he had to leave before she did something stupid, like tell him everything.

"Yes, feelings." She answered. "Now please leave."

She put her hand onto his chest, ignoring the spark of electricity she felt at the contact, in order to guide him out when John put his hand on top of hers making her stop dead in her tracks. He gulped and took a leap of faith into the potential void.

"What if they're already there?" He asked, hoping mercilessly that he wasn't misreading everything. He was pretty confident but steeled himself for a devastating blow nonetheless.

Jennifer looked up at him, hardly believing her ears. His eyes bore into her gaze, into her very soul, willing her to understand. He gripped her hand that much harder, letting her know that he wasn't letting her go anytime soon. She felt almost intimidated by his stare but fought the urge to recoil. Instead she did the opposite in a surge of confidence and pushed herself even closer, not breaking his gaze, taking a leap of faith of her own.

"What if they are?" She answered his question with another, teasing him. Challenging him.

They stayed as they were for a few long moments, a battle of wills to see who would cave in first. It didn't take long for Jennifer to win, John giving in and pulling her towards him with their entwined hands, grabbing the back of her neck with his other hand and crashing his lips down onto hers. She was instantly there, responding in kind. Her arms wound around his neck whilst his moved to take their place at her waist. Together they moved and they discovered each other in a new way.

Jennifer was euphoric, her tongue tasting as much of John as she could. He tasted of toothpaste and something that was distinctly John Sheppard. Her hands lifted to run through his hair, messing it up even more than usual. It was softer than she expected, and moaned into his mouth. He reacted to her outburst with a short moan of his own accompanied by his arm slithering around her waist pulling her as close as she could get, her chest flush against his.

John was floating in a cloud of pleasure. All he could feel, hear, taste, smell and see was Jennifer. She smelt of red berries, and perfume. Her scent filled his nostrils and sent his brain into overdrive. She was beautiful to him, especially in her current state: hair messily tied up, facially bare, wearing sweat pants and an old oversized t-shirt that he was pretty sure was actually his. Or at least it used to be; she was more than welcome to keep it if it meant that he got to see her wear it again. He slid a hand underneath the t-shirt to rest it on the bare skin of the small of her back, sighing at the softness of her skin.

After a while of deep mouth exploration Jennifer pulled back, the need for air finally overtaking her need for the man in front of her. John moved his lips to her neck, nibbling and sucking, claiming her as his own. He started slowly to guide them backwards, not breaking skin to skin contact. She felt the mattress hit the back of her legs, and bent her knees obligingly so that they both fell gently back onto the bed. They shuffled up so that Jennifer's head lay on her pillow and her legs took their place around John's waist as their hands took their turn in exploring every inch, every millimeter of each other.

That night they slept very, very well indeed.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: I don't think this will be the last chapter; there may be an epilogue in the back of my mind (PS that was correct when I wrote it, now it's already written. I'm going to wait a few days before uploading it though). Enjoy!

John awoke the next morning feeling better than he had in a very long time. He checked the time on the clock on the bedside table, and was happy to find that it was only ten to seven, and that he had at least another twenty minutes before he needed to get up to go to his sparring session with Ronan at half past.

He was lying on his back in the middle of the bed completely naked, with Jennifer's head on his chest and his arm around her. The position felt so natural and so right that he wondered how it hadn't happened before. He already knew however that his stubbornness and insecurities were to blame. He couldn't help but regret not acting on his feelings sooner, as he could have been enjoying many more of these kinds of moments. Hopefully there will be many more for him to enjoy.

He pulled her closer to him, and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. She smelt of her apple-scented shampoo and a little like sweat. Even her sweat scent was appealing to him, he pondered to himself. How could something as usually revolting as sweat be so inviting? He supposed it must depend on the person. It was as if he was a blind person, but now he was wide eyed to what had been in front of him all the time. And now that he had it, he had absolutely no intention of letting it go.

His train of thought was interrupted by a sharp rapping at the door. He jumped slightly at the noise, and looked at the woman lying on him. She didn't rouse at the noise, just snuggled closer to his chest. He smiled gently at the sight, and sighed. He would hate to have to wake her up when she looked so peaceful. He stared at the door, hoping whoever was on the other side would take the hint and go away. Unfortunately for him, the rapping started again a few moments later, more urgent this time. He grunted in frustration and slid slowly out of bed, holding her head so that she stayed asleep. He placed her head onto the mattress, and started looking around for his t-shirt which had been haphazardly tossed aside at some point in the night. After a minute of searching in vain, he admitted defeat and just accepted the fact that he was going to have to answer the door Jennifer Keller, Chief Medical Officer of Atlantis' door, at seven o'clock in the morning wearing next to nothing. He trudged over to the door and, with a deep breath for courage, waved his hand over the door controls, making the door slide open. He was greeted with the surprised face of Rodney McKay.

"Yes Rodney?" Sheppard asked, trying for nonchalance. Rodney's eyes flitted to the sleeping figure in the bed for a split second before talking to John.

"Hey, Ronan wanted to speak to you to cancel the sparring session this morning, and you weren't answering your communicator so Woolsey sent me to check for 'malfunctions' again. Please just keep it closer to you, it's very annoying to keep being interrupted to be a messenger" He complained, acting as if there was nothing bizarre about the situation.

"Okay" Sheppard answered "How did you know I was here?"

"I went to your room and it was empty so there was only really another place you could be." McKay reasoned. "I see you were….busy last night" He smirked, his eyes drifting back to the naked back of Jennifer.

"Yeah" John said warily "We had a lot to talk about". He subconsciously moved to intercept Rodney's gaze in order to preserve some of Jennifer's dignity. McKay realised and brought his eyes back to John.

"Right, well I've delivered the message so now I'm going back to my quarters, to catch up on the fifteen minutes of sleep I was deprived of when I was woken up to be your little messenger" He turned on his heel and strode back down the corridor towards the main staircase. John knew he had to talk to McKay about what had happened between him and Jennifer, Rodney was almost as bad as a teenage girl sometimes, demanding any and all details. However, he wanted to tell him something right now, as a sign of friendship.

"Rodney" He called out to the retreating back of the scientist. McKay turned around, and John nodded at him self-consciously. "Thanks"

A lot was said in that one word and Rodney understood all of it. He nodded back at John and carried on down the corridor. John turned to gaze at the perfect woman still sleeping soundly, and he beamed as it ticked in his brain that he got more time with the beauty before him. He waved the door shut and fumbled over to the bed, dropping onto it and laying his arm back over Jennifer's waist. She reacted to his touch, making a small moaning sound and shuffling around. He sensually stroked along her side, and softly planted a kiss on her cheek. She leaned into him and sleepily turned around to face him, her leg finding a comfortable spot on his hip.

"Guess what?" He whispered, his lips barely leaving hers.

"What?" She asked.

"My plans for this morning just got cancelled, so I'm all yours until after lunch" His lips made their way down to her neck, covering every inch of her skin in kisses. Jennifer groaned, and laughed breathily as his eyelashes tickled under her chin.

"I wish that was the case, but I have to be in the infirmary at eight o'clock sharp"

"Call in sick, no one will mind. You deserve a few days off anyway" He kept on down her body, showering her with peppered kisses along her collarbones, her sternum, her belly and each hipbone.

"I can't I have so much work to do it's unbelievable" She sighed, and pulled him upwards by his arm, so that their faces were close. "I should probably be getting up anyway" She said, trying to push him off her. He fell to the side obligingly.

"But you have a whole hour to spare!" He objected.

"But I have to have a shower and dry my hair!" She complained as she walked towards the bathroom, exposing her bare backside to him. John was convinced she was swaying deliberately to keep his attention. As she reached the door leading to the ensuite, she leaned against the doorframe and turned back to him.

"Want to join me?" She asked provocatively, giving him come-hither eyes. He nodded enthusiastically, and sat up to join her. By the time he'd actually got himself up and to the door, the sound of the shower running filled his ears. He heard her yell out to him to hurry up as the water wasn't getting any hotter, and laughed to himself hardly believing how lucky he was to have a woman such as her. He opened the door and stepped through, starting the rest of his life with the woman he loved.


	9. Epilogue

A/N: Here's the final chapter to this story, it's an epilogue. I hope you've enjoyed reading this story as much as I've enjoyed writing it. I have other stories in the works, such as To The Future (I'm up to chapter 5 or 6, go check it out!) as well as an angsty one shot about Daniel (SG-1) and I'll most likely get other ideas for stories along the road. That being said, Enjoy the last chapter of Sleep Tight!

Two years later …

It was one o'clock in the morning, but neither John nor Jennifer was sleeping, although it wasn't for lack of trying. They'd been tucked up in bed in their shared quarters for close to three hours, ready for a good night's sleep after a hard and trying day, but a horrible noise had kept them alert and awake not even twenty minutes after they'd laid down. It was a piercing, shrill squeal that neither of them could stop. They'd both given it their best shots but it was all in vain.

The loudness dimmed, and the pair breathed a sigh of relief, hoping they could finally rest. Unfortunately, the silence lasted only a few minutes before the ear-piercing shriek resumed.

"It's your turn" Jennifer muttered, turning over and batting his arm limply with her hand. Sighing, John got out of bed and went over to the far side of the room and picked up his 6 month old daughter from out of her cot.

"Hey hey hey, everything's okay baby" He soothed quietly, settling her into his arms. She quietened some, but still gurgled out discontented noises every few seconds. He bounced her up and down slightly in an attempt to calm her, and made his way over to the armchair nestled in the corner of the room. He sat down and resumed swaying his child back and forth. It seemed to work as she quietened even more, and the silence was like music to his ears.

Little Elizabeth Teyla Sheppard was teething, and it had proved a trying time for not only her but her parents and everyone who's quarters were on the same floor. Many had taken to fleeing their rooms, bunking with fellow lanteans to escape the screams of the child.

"Shhh, little one, your mama needs her sleep" He cooed softly at the baby "Well, we all do but she's responsible for making other people better, and she can't do that if she's sleep deprived can she?"

He grabbed a teething ring that was on a table to his right and waved it in front of Elizabeth's face, grabbing her attention. Her eyes widened and followed the ring. She stretched her little arms out, trying to grab it. John let her take it and smiled, happy she wasn't crying.

"There you go, chew on that if it makes you happy" He said to her, as she immediately put the ring in her mouth, as babies do. He shivered slightly and looked around for a blanket. Elizabeth was already wrapped up, but if he was feeling chilly chances were she wasn't that warm either. He caught a hold on the throw that was behind him and opened it up, covering them both in it. He shuffled a little in his seat, getting comfortable; knowing he probably wasn't going to move that night.

He glanced over at Jennifer, and a smile took hold of his face when he saw her fast asleep, with the covers pulled up to her chin and a smile on her face.

"See your mom over there?" He asked, not expecting an answer. "She's the best woman I've ever known. She somehow manages to be Chief Medical Officer here, work through God knows how many crises, put up with me and take care of you. I mean, I do help some with that last part. But she's definitely a superhero in disguise. I'm sure of it. I'm positive that beneath her lab coat she wears spandex tights and a cape." He chuckled quietly to himself and allowed himself to steal another look at Jennifer.

"I'm so glad I met her. Can you imagine if I hadn't? You wouldn't be here!" He carried on "She's definitely one of the best things that's ever happened to me, as well as you of course. Without either of you I can't even think about what my life would be like. It would most likely just be lonely. Thankfully, that'll never happen again".

He fingered the golden band on his finger absently, remembering the day that he and Jennifer got married. It had been the happiest day of his life, and hers so she told him when they reminisced late at night. It had all happened fairly quickly relatively speaking, as they had only been together for about a year, but it felt right to both of them, they both knew the dangers that they faced every day and wanted to solidify their bond should anything happen to one of them. Plus the fact that Jennifer fell pregnant just before they got engaged just made it all the more perfect in they're eyes. They didn't know it at the time of course, but once they found out they calculated the dates and for them it was a sign that they were on the right path. Rodney had told them it was just a sign that they weren't careful enough with their birth control. That particular comment earned him a slap on the arm from Jennifer and a slap around the back of the head from Sheppard.

McKay was Elizabeth's godfather, despite his objections that he was unfit to be any sort of mentor. The pair felt it was only right that he be given the title; after all he was the one that made her existence possible. If it weren't for him, they very well could have spent their lives in ignorance, avoiding their feelings and living their lives in misery. Begrudgingly he'd accepted. Strangely, he'd become the girl's favorite uncle. He never failed to stop her crying when she was upset, which had led to her being dumped on him many a time by the various people who looked after her during the day when she got grouchy. Even his rants at Zelenka didn't faze her, they just made her giggle.

Teyla was her godmother, of course. Although she had never heard the term before, she quickly understood the concept behind it and was honored to accept such an offer. She treated Elizabeth as if she were her own child, and as she did already have a little boy it made it easy to have playdates. Teyla often took the two children to the mainland to socialize with the athosian children, which John joined more often than not, as did Jennifer when she could find the time.

Ronan was not officially linked to the girl, but he was still referred to as "Uncle Ronan". His natural abilities with children meant that Elizabeth loved him just as much as the others and he loved spending time with her also. His actions and attitude when he was around the baby when in public had damaged his tough, menacing persona meaning that people were less intimidated by him, but he didn't mind all that much. He could still kick anybody's ass should the need arise.

Even Woolsey had a soft spot for the little girl. He often allowed her parents more time off than they were entitled to in order to care for her, purely because that little baby managed to put a smile on his usually unexpressive face.

All in all, Elizabeth had a brilliant family surrounding her, even if not many of them are genetically related. They say that you can't choose your family, but John thought they'd done pretty well so far.

He stepped out of his reverie when he noticed he hadn't heard anything coming from his daughter in a while. He looked down at her, and he was happy –as well as relieved- to see that she had fallen asleep so he stood up as slowly as possible, desperately trying not to wake her. He softly stepped over to her cot and gently laid her down, making sure she was well covered by her blanket.

"Goodnight Lizzie. Sleep tight" He pressed a soft kiss to her head, and joined Jennifer in bed for a long awaited sleep.


End file.
